


today's lesson

by shairiru



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-24
Updated: 2015-12-24
Packaged: 2018-05-08 23:39:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5517416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shairiru/pseuds/shairiru
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shintarou’s sister has gotten a new tutor and he can’t help feeling wary about the new guy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	today's lesson

Shizuka’s new tutor is rather intriguing, Shintarou finds himself thinking when he arrives home that afternoon. Shizuka will be taking the entrance exam to his university next year and she aims to qualify for the program that would give her an advantage when she applies for medicine after she graduates. It’s the same program Shintarou is in currently and it’s a highly competitive course. Shizuka has set her sights far ahead. Thus, she suggested just a few weeks ago to have a tutor that will prepare her for the entrance exams and simultaneously improve her current academic standing. Their parents happily obliged and told her they’d find someone for her, someone highly qualified and trustworthy.

Shizuka’s tutor sits primly in front of them, looking very much as if he belongs there perfectly. Their parents told him that this tutor is a son of a friend and that Shintarou, as the older brother, should talk to this person first and foremost to assure himself. They know how he tends to worry too much about his little sister.

There is nothing in the way that the tutor holds himself that screams danger, but still, he can’t help but feel uneasy.

Shintarou clears his throat. “I don’t think we know your name yet.”

“Seijuurou.” His voice is steady and very charismatic. He might know how this man managed to get to their parents’ good side. “Akashi Seijuurou. My father is a regular client of Midorima-sensei.”

“You’re in university, too, I heard?”

“Third year. Economics.”

“Ah!” Shizuka jumps excitedly on her seat, her eyes widening. “Isn’t that a very difficult course, Akashi-san?”

“That’s what they say.” He smiles knowingly. “I don’t find it that way, though.”

Clearly, the man is very well aware of his skills. Shintarou finds himself getting irritated. 

“Why don’t we arrange your schedules with Shizuka? With your academic load and all, we want to make sure your sessions would be as regular as possible. Consistency is key to these things, after all.”

“I’m free most weekday afternoons. Say, Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays? I can also do Saturdays if it’d be more convenient.”

“I’m okay with Monday and Thursday afternoons.” Shizuka taps her chin in thought. “Would Saturday afternoons be alright? I have stuff at school in the morning.”

“That’s perfectly fine. I assume I’d be teaching you here in your house?”

“Yeah. I hope it’s not a bother or anything?”

“It’s no problem. I live in the dormitory. It’s just around.”

“It’s settled then.”

After a few more questions from Akashi that assessed Shizuka, he excuses himself to go. There’s still a paper he needs to attend to. “I’m looking forward to teaching you, Shizuka-san. Let’s do our best.” 

-

“And since the value for the Gibb’s Free Energy you got is positive, it means what?”

Shizuka’s forehead furrows in thought. “That…the reaction won’t proceed.”

“Yes, that’s correct. However, the more accurate answer is that the reverse of that reaction is the one that will proceed. ” Akashi grabs the pen and starts writing on the paper they’ve been using since they started their session over thirty minutes ago. “Now, let’s try solving for what maximum amount of solid will completely dissociate in water given a reaction.”

“Hey, thermodynamics actually seem pretty interesting.”

“Isn’t it?” Akashi smiles. “And you’re a really fast learner, too.”

“I bet I’d learn faster if someone isn’t lowkey spying on this tutoring session.” She turns and throws a crumpled paper at Shintarou. It misses, but nevertheless, get his attention. “Right, brother?”

Shintarou looks up from his readings and stares back at Shizuka. “I’m studying, too.”

“You always study in your room.”

“Can’t I study in the living room for once?”

“I think your brother isn’t very trusting of me, that’s why he’s here.” Akashi looks at him, his eyes glinting. “Aren’t you?”

Shintarou ignores the comment and goes back to reading about the epinephrine and norepinephrine hormones. Shizuka is a naturally friendly person, of course, and he can understand if she gets along with new people immediately. But Akashi seems to think that that friendliness extends to him. He’s terribly wrong.

“Don’t mind him.” He hears Shizuka say in a quieter voice. “It’d be a miracle to get along with brother. You’d die trying.”

“That sounds rather harsh.” Akashi lets out a low laugh. He slides the paper and pen over to Shizuka Shintarou almost misses the last few words he uttered, but he doesn’t, and it hits him. “That must be really lonely.”

-

“I’m not lonely, am I?”

Shizuka stifles a laugh. She didn’t expect a simple statement from her tutor, practically a stranger to her brother, would bother him even hours after.

“You’re not lonely. You’re just alone. Aren’t college people your age out partying and discovering their selves?”

“Those kind of college students fall towards mediocrity. That which I cannot allow to happen to myself.” He turns to Shizuka and looks at her seriously. “And neither should you. University life is full of temptations. It’s basically in every corner. Even your professors could make you do things if you aren’t assertive enough. Learn-”

“Self-control and discipline,” she finishes with a tired tone. “You’ve told me many times before. You’re even worse than Mom and Dad combined.”

“I’m your brother. I have as much responsibility to take care of you.”

“And you do it so well. Trust me. I appreciate it. But sometimes, you really need to chill. Enjoy! You’re too young to be so grumpy about the world.” She closes the book she was reading and lightly hits his brother’s forehead with its spine. “Be happy, alright?”

Shintarou frowns. “I  _am_  happy.”

“Then be happier.”

-

“You’re in the Biology department, aren’t you?”

Shintarou finds himself in an inescapable conversation with Akashi. Shizuka is on the end of the couch, bent over the mock exam Akashi has prepared for her. Probably finding nothing to do, Akashi must have decided to bother him. That, he’s not very fond of.

“Yes.”

“I have a friend there. He mentioned you once before in one of our conversations.”

“Someone mentioned me?” It’s a rather strange thing that someone he isn’t particularly friendly with would talk about him outside the confines of the Biology building.

“Well, not directly. But he did mention a stellar student who’s almost always frowning and never seems to get along with them. He said you helped him in an experiment despite not having talked ever.”

“Oh.” He remembers now. There was that student next to him in his zoology lab who was really nervous during the dissection to the point that he can’t make a clean cut on the frog’s muscles. No one else seem to notice, or they chose not to. Since his classmate’s frustrated mumblings were bothering his own dissection, he decided to help him out in the end. The guy thanked him after that class, but they never had another conversation again. “It was nothing.”

“It did get him through the rest of the experiment. And the other dissections as well.” Akashi drags the seat next to him and sits there, facing him. “After hearing that story, I started thinking maybe you aren’t that bad at all.”

“You think I’m bad?” he scoffs in disbelief.

“I did.” Akashi laughs. “I admit I did. It’s not like you don’t think the same way about me.”

“I had valid reasons to.”

Before he realizes it, he has fallen into a normal conversation with Seijuurou. It’s funny how there isn’t any feeling of contempt within him as they speak with each other. If he will really be honest with himself, he’d say he’s enjoying their exchange. Seijuurou isn’t a very animated talker, but the twinkle in his eyes and the soft curve of his smile make him look like a very enthusiastic talker. His textbook lays open, forgotten at the moment.

-

Akashi leaves as soon as he finished checking Shizuka’s mock exam. He was actually quite impressed. Only three months have passed and yet he claimed that she had improved remarkably well. He tells her they’d just have to improve on her reading comprehension and she’d be assured of her slot in her choice of course.

Once Akashi is out of sight, Shizuka makes her way beside her brother and stares at him quietly. He returned to reading his textbook right after his conversation with Akashi ended as if it was a very normal thing to so. She knows better, though. She observes him closely, from the slight frown on his forehead to the thin line of his mouth.

“Do you like Akashi-san?”

Her brother’s frown gets deeper and his mouth opens into an ‘ _O_ ’. “What?”

“I was asking if you like him. I mean…well, you were kind of smiling while you’re talking to him earlier. That’s why I didn’t interrupt even though I finished the problems quickly.” She smiles teasingly at him. “I’d hate for you to lose such look easily.”

“I wasn’t smiling.” He grunts and returns his attention to his book. He certainly wasted a good thirty minutes talking to Akashi when he still have a quiz on the lymphatic system the next day. “And I don’t like him.”

Shizuka chooses not to push the matter further, but she’s almost a hundred percent sure that the faint blush on her brother’s cheeks does not lie.

-

A knock on the door interrupts Akashi’s lecture on partial differentiation. The three of them look at each other before Shintarou pries himself away from his microbiology textbook to open it, and on the other side are his parents.

“Welcome home.” He gets his mother’s bag and his father’s coat, proceeding to place them on the living room. “You’re pretty early.”

“The clinic isn’t as busy as expected. I still had time to pick your mother up from the store.” His father’s eyes land on Seijuurou and they widen in surprise. “Oh. Seijuurou-kun, you’re still here.”

“Midorima-sensei, good evening.” Seijuurou stands out of politeness and greets their parents. “ I won’t be able to make it the rest of the week due to some commitments so I talked to Shizuka and we agreed to have an extended session today.”

“Ah yes, Masaomi did tell me about the conference in Stanford. Congratulations.”

Shintarou raises a brow in response to what his father had said. Akashi notices and throws him a sly smile. “Thank you, sir.”

“Why don’t you stay for dinner?” His mother, who has just finished placing her umbrella on the corner, reaches for Akashi’s wrist and squeezes softly. His father heads to the kitchen, probably to get some coffee like he usually does. “Shizuka finally finished her cello lessons so we’re having a little celebration. Her recital is in two weeks’ time, actually. I’m just going to prepare the food for a while. It won’t take long.”

“Sure, ma’am. I’d be glad to.”

“Good. Good. I’ll head to the kitchen now. I’ll leave you to your tutoring sessions.” She lets go of Akashi and leaves the three of them in the living room. Akashi wears a look of subtle triumph when he faces him.

“It seems like you’re the only one not in favor of me in this family.” He nudges Shintarou slightly with his shoulder. 

“Shut up.”

Akashi chuckles. “You know I’m not going to harm Shizuka in any way, right? After all this time you’ve watched over us?”

“I do know that.” Shintarou replies, looking away. “I never said I wasn’t in favor of you, anyway.”

There is a moment of brief silence between the two of them that seems filled with words waiting to be said out loud. Shizuka’s question rings in his mind:  _Do you like Akashi-san?_

_I probably do._

“That’s a relief, then.” When Shintarou looks at him again, Akashi is smiling. “I’ve grown to like you, after all.”

“Wha-”

But before Shintarou is able to finish his question, Akashi returns beside Shizuka and goes back to teaching her. He’s almost sure what he just heard is something he only imagined if it isn’t for the smile that is still on Akashi’s lips. He did hear those words, and he wonders what they truly mean.

-

“You’re early today,” Shintarou says as he lets Akashi in. He was in the middle of playing the piano when the knock on the door disrupted him. “Shizuka’s probably just on her way home.”

“It’s alright. I finished early so I figured I’d go here immediately to prepare.” His eyes land on the open piano lid. A certain spark shines on his eyes. “You were playing?”

“Vivaldi. Finals week has just passed so I’m taking this weekend to rest.”

“Resting by playing the piano. Sounds a lot like what I would do.”

“Who do you usually play?”

“No one in particular. Though I prefer classical and jazz among others.”

“I can understand that.”

“You can go back to playing, you know. I’d like to watch and hear you, after all.”

“By all means.” Shintarou returns to his place in front of the piano. Akashi stands just beside it. Shintarou takes a breath, steps on the pedal, and starts playing the piece from the top. 

Only the music fills the air for a moment. Akashi’s eyes are focused on how Shintarou’s fingers moved between keys with grace. Those long fingers sure do their job well. Shintarou, on the other hand, is focused on the piece and the instrument before him. Not once did he show any sign of being detached from his music. They seem to be one.

“With that skill, I would have thought you were a music major.”

Shintarou replies with the briefest of smiles.

“Your sister told me you don’t talk much with other people.”

“That is true.” Shintarou proceeds to the next movement without a pause. “I rarely find someone who I can hold a worthwhile conversation with.”

Akashi leans his elbow against the piano and Shintarou doesn’t miss the coy smile he puts on. “I must be special then.”

“Don’t flatter yourself.”

He continues playing the entire piece, and Akashi doesn’t speak a word more to listen. As much as their conversations are worthwhile, and so is the silence between the two of them. There in between is an understanding Shintarou has never found with someone else.

“I’ve been meaning to make it clear,” Akashi starts as soon as Shintarou presses on the last few notes. “About what I said last time.”

Shintarou’s fingers falter and he plays the last note an eighth beat faster than he should have. “What about it?” He tries to feign innocence, but it is clear from Akashi’s amused expression that he failed.

“I mean it. I do like you.”

“Haven’t we…already established we’re not against each other?”

“No,” Akashi chuckles against his fist. “I mean, I like you in a way that I want to talk to you more. Hear what you’ve got to say. Enjoy the silence with you. The list could go on really. You probably already have an idea of what I’m talking about.”

“I-” Shintarou finds himself at loss of words. He must look foolish, his mouth opening and closing like a fish’s for many times, his fingers fumbling for his glasses. “I like you, too.” He blurts out almost unintelligibly. “You’re nice to talk with, and you always get what I mean to say. But you are…my sister’s tutor, first and foremost. This is kind of unprofessional.”

“Understandable. I can wait.” Akashi nods. He takes the spot next to Shintarou, leaving a small space between. Shintarou feels his heart jump at their sudden closeness. Akashi places his fingers on the keyboard as he stares at his eyes with a glint of delight. “Play with me?”

Akashi has just made waiting an agony for Shintarou.

-

“I did it!” Shizuka jumps from the couch, raising the letter of acceptance in the air. “Akashi-san, brother, I did it!”

“I knew you’d pass.” Akashi smiles at her from where he’s seated. The letter actually already arrived that morning but Shizuka insisted on opening it only if her tutor is also there. Akashi feels quite touched at the thought. 

“All your hard work paid off.” Shintarou ruffles his sister’s hair. “Congratulations!”

“I’m gonna call mom and dad!”

Akashi watches with a smile on his face as Shizuka excitedly calls her parents on her phone to spread the good news. Even without him, he’s pretty sure Shizuka would have passed the entrance examination with exceptional marks.

“This seems to be the end of my contract.” Akashi turns as Shintarou takes the spot next to him. Their knees bump and they keep it that way.

“Shizuka will miss you.”

“She did tell me that in our last session. Oh, that reminds me.” He fishes out his phone from his pocket and opens a file. “I actually got my schedule for the next semester already. My lunch times are free. From five in the afternoon, I’m free Wednesdays and Fridays. Weekends, completely free unless there’d be sudden requirements or meetings to go to.”

“Why are you telling me all this?”

“Just so you know in case you’d want to finally settle on a date to go out together.”

Shintarou scoffs and pushes up his glasses to hide his smile. It’s the deal, after all, that they would push through with the growing feelings they have for each other once Akashi finishes tutoring Shizuka. To be honest, Shintarou thought the feelings would dwindle while they were bidding their time. Instead, he found himself more and more drawn to Akashi. “Next semester sounds pretty far away. Aren’t you free tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow sounds perfect.” Akashi sighs in disappointment. “But, I still have to prepare for the conference. It’s in three days’ time.”

“Oh right. I didn’t know it was that close.” He pushes his glasses up in thought. “How about the night after you come back from the conference?”

“Sounds fine to me.” Akashi smiles, placing his hand on top of Shintarou’s knee. “It’s a date, then?”

“Our very first.”

(Shizuka totally heard that.)

**Author's Note:**

> For Ping, for MidoAka Secret Santa! :D I wish you liked it and happy holidays~  
> Also on [Tumblr](http://midoakasecretsanta.tumblr.com/post/135849263904/title-todays-lesson-pairing-midoaka-shintarous)!


End file.
